But fortunately for Hughie the company tacitly agreed to regard her as a form of comic relief; and when she kept back the salad-dressing for the express purpose--frustrated at the very last moment--of pouring it over the sweets; yea, even when she suddenly plucked a hairpin from her head with which to spear a wasp in the grassy corner pudding, the ladies agreed that she was "an old pet." When Mrs. Ames went so far as to follow her into the gyp-room after lunch and thank her for her trouble in waiting upon them, Mrs. Gunn, divided between extreme gratification and a desire to lose no time, unlimbered her batteries at once; and Hughie's tingling ears, as he handed round the coffee, overheard the portentous and mysterious fragment: "Well, mum, I put 'im straight to bed, and laid a hot flannel on his--," just as the door of the gyp-room swung to with a merciful bang. It was now after two, and Hughie, in response to a generally expressed desire, laid before his guests a detailed programme for the afternoon. He proposed, first of all, to show them round the College. After that the party would proceed to Ditton Paddock in charge of Mr. Richard Lunn--who, it will be remembered, had been selected by Hughie as cavalier on account of his exceptional qualifications for the post--in company with a substantial tea-basket, the contents of which he hoped would keep them fortified in body and spirit until the races began with the Second Division, about five-thirty. "How are you going to get us down to Ditton, Hughie?" inquired his uncle. "Well, there's a fly which will hold five of you, and I thought"--Hughie cleared his throat--"I could take the other one down in a canoe." There was a brief pause, while the company, glancing at one another with varying expressions of solemnity, worked out mental problems in Permutations and Combinations. Presently the tactless Ames inquired:-- "Which one are you going to take in the canoe?" "Oh, anybody," said Hughie, in a voice which said as plainly as possible: "Silly old ass!" However, realising that it is no use to continue skirmishing after your cover has been destroyed, he directed a gaze of invitation upon Miss Freshwater, who was sitting beside him on the seat. She turned to him before he could speak. "Hughie," she said softly, "take that child. Just look at her!" Hughie obediently swallowed something, and turned to the wide-eyed and wistful picture on the sofa. "Will you come, Joey?" he inquired. The lady addressed signified, by a shudder of ecstasy, that the answer to the invitation was in the affirmative. "Meanwhile," said Mr. Marrable, "I am going to smoke a cigar before I stir out of this room. And if you people will spare Hughie for ten minutes, I'll keep him here and have a short talk with him. I must go back to-night."